Since I originally started this site, I’ve almost always made it a point to mention or address my birthday ( my thoughts on my 23rd birthday are missing for whatever reason) and as I long as I still have the ability and outlet to write, it will probably continue to be a reoccurring topic in my posts.
I’ve never been placed on a pedestal or anything elaborate like that, but I’m a firm believer that if ever there was a day to feel like the world should have to revolve around you, it would have to be your birthday. It only seems right that since God has blessed you with another year to celebrate life that the universe and all that’s in it should bend to your will and allow you to have a good birthday. Anything less would be disrespectful.
I’ve finally gotten past the predicament of not knowing what I want to do when my birthday comes around. I had this idea that I had to do the “expected young adult things” which could be everything from going to the club to going out to eat a nice restaurant (nothing is wrong with that actually) even though I knew deep down that those weren’t things that were truly fun to me. So on my 23rd birthday, I just decided to do whatever I felt like was fun, which, for that year, was going to play Laser Tag.
Last year I worked on my birthday, just to see what the experience was like (hated it) and for the big two-five?? I went indoor go karting, and had a great time.
I wish I could say that my annual birthday week of mild depression doesn’t still occur, but it does. At the same time, I don’t think I’ve ever been more comfortable with who I’ve become as a person. There was a time where I was uncomfortable with some of my flaws, there were also certain aspects of my personality that I felt wouldn’t be as embraced, so I would make an effort to mask them or minimize them (a trait I think a lot of us pick up during our teenage years) only to realize there was no reason to hide them in the first place, because those close to me accepted every little quirk about me, good, bad, and in between.
I’m not trying to turn this into a post full of sentiment. I’m happy that I’ve lived to see 25 all while still being in relatively good health. I’m happy that I’ve been able to preserve most of the relationships that are important to me, I’ve been blessed in situations that I have to be careful not to take for granted. Even though turning 25 is my first baby step towards what my younger self would describe as “becoming an old man” I embrace it because it’s a blessing to live to see this age and hopefully many more birthdays to come… Now to pretend that I’m “25” for the next ten years…
